'EVERYTHING HAS BEEN KNOCKED OUT IN IRAN': Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (March 3) that the United States and Israel have inflicted significant damage on Iran in their military campaign, telling reporters as he met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that “just about everything’s been knocked out,” and that operations were progressing successfully. Trump claimed that he believed Iran was preparing to strike before he acted, appearing to step back from Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s earlier statement that Israel had initiated the conflict.

"I think they were going to attack first, and I didn't want that to happen. So, if anything, I might have forced Israel's hand," Trump told reporters. Trump also discussed what he described as a worst-case outcome of military action against Iran, suggesting it could result in a successor similar to the country’s late supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. "I guess the worst case would be, we do this, and then somebody takes over who's as bad as the previous person, right?" he said during the meeting with Merz. "That could happen. We don't want that to happen."

Also Read: 'Iran will not 'automatically' fall after Khamenei's death': Farah Pahlavi

Trump also said he was not happy with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has not joined the US-Israeli attack on Iran but did let US forces use UK bases. "I'm not happy with the UK," Trump said as he met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House. "It's taken three, four days for us to work out where we can land," Trump said. "This is not Winston Churchill that we're dealing with."

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